Dodgers star Justin Turner calls for home run derby to end tied games

April 3 (UPI) --Los Angeles Dodgers star Justin Turner is calling for a new way to resolve tied Major League Baseball games when the league returns: a home run derby.

Turner said he hopes the league considers swapping out extra innings for a slugfest if and when baseball comes back for the 2020 season, which has been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Turner first lobbied for the idea during an interview Wednesday on Spectrum SportsNet. He expanded on the concept Thursday.

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The 2017 All-Star and former NLCS MVP proposes beginning a home run derby when a game is tied after 10 innings. The single-round derby would include three players from each team -- each getting five outs or 10 swings. Coaches would throw pitches during the derby, to avoid overworking pitchers.

"Instead of playing 17 innings, you get one extra inning, you play the 10th inning, and no one scores, then you go to a home run derby," Turner said. "You take each team's three best hitters and you give them all five outs and see who hits the most homers."

The Dodgers star compared the idea to the excitement of NHL penalty shootouts, and said the change could add more entertainment for baseball fans.

"You wanna keep fans in the stands until the end of the game," he said. "I know when I go to hockey games, I actually enjoy watching shootouts. That keeps me in my seat, so maybe a home run derby will do that as well."

Turner said his home run derby concept should last for just this season, as MLB considers multiple alterations to its regular-season and post-season format. The league has been indefinitely suspended since mid-March.

Turner, 35, is scheduled to make $20 million in 2020, the final year of his contract with the Dodgers.